Edible oil prices rise 20%Low production due to aberrant weather leads to hike of Rs 15-25 a litre
Chandigarh, January 29
There seems to be no respite for the common man from rising prices. After being hit by high price of onions and steep hike in prices of petrol, edible oil prices have risen quite substantially over the last month.

Invest in back-end retail: India
Davos, January 29
India has told global retail chains like Wal-Mart and Tesco that they should invest in the back -end infrastructure, even as the issue of opening multi-brand retailing to foreign direct investment (FDI) is under ‘active consideration’ by the government.The
message was conveyed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Wal-Mart
CEO Mike Duke and Tesco CEO Terry Leahy on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum meeting.

Aviation Notes
DGCA continues to dither on safety of passengers
Worldwide, airlines provide top priority to safety of passengers regardless of constraints and compulsions. Sadly, in this country, the apex regulatory body, Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) continues to dither on this issue as laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO).

Higher discounts, royalty drag Maruti net 18%
New Delhi, January 29
Reeling under the impact of rising input costs, adverse foreign exchange movement and higher royalty payout, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) today reported 17.80 per cent decline in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010, to Rs 565.17 crore from Rs 687.53 crore in the same period a year ago.

Chandigarh, January 29
There seems to be no respite for the common man from rising prices. After being hit by high price of onions and steep hike in prices of petrol, edible oil prices have risen quite substantially over the last month.

Over the last month, prices of all refined oils, used as a cooking medium, have risen between Rs 15-25 a litre in the case of vegetable oils like soyabean, sunflower, groundnut and rice bran.

Even mustard oil, mainly used by the poor, has shown a jump of Rs 5-10 a litre over the last few days.

Many middle class homes are now reworking their kitchen budgets. Amrit Kaur, a housewife in Ludhiana, says, “There seems to be no reprieve from rising food prices. Onions became expensive and we rationed their intake. However, we cannot curtail the consumption of edible oil.”

The prices of edible oil have risen because of low oilseed production across all oilseed producing countries this year. The low production resulted from weather aberrations. The growing demand for palm oil, too, has contributed to the high price of all vegetable oils, as the quantity available for imports to the country has been less. Sources say relief from high vegetable oil prices is unlikely to be available anytime soon. Edible oils have a high weightage in the consumer price index, and even a modest reduction in price will bring relief to consumers.

In Chandigarh, Amarbir Singh, a government employee, says that the rising prices of most refined oils has now forced his family to use mustard oil as a cooking medium. “The prices of most food items are going up steadily, but the incomes are not commensurate with food inflation. The government should take immediate steps to bring relief to the common man,” he says.

“The way out is to permit duty-free import of refined oils, as a number of importers holding large stocks in anticipation of further rise in prices will be forced to liquidate stocks,” says a leading palm oil importer from Delhi.

Davos, January 29
India has told global retail chains like Wal-Mart and Tesco that they should invest in the back -end infrastructure, even as the issue of opening multi-brand retailing to foreign direct investment (FDI) is under ‘active consideration’ by the government.

The message was conveyed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke and Tesco CEO Terry Leahy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting. “Multi brand can only come when back-end infrastructure is created, that is where the farmer will get remunerative prices at their door step.

Tens of millions of jobs will be created. You cannot say that I will have a front end in the absence of a back-end infrastructure,” Sharma told reporters here. —
PTI

Worldwide, airlines provide top priority to safety of passengers regardless of constraints and compulsions. Sadly, in this country, the apex regulatory body, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) continues to dither on this issue as laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

On December 30, 2010, an official, in a haste, notified to Air India management that it could operate its flights with less than the stipulated compliment of cabin crew. Upon media outrage, the DGCA promptly amended its circular and directed Air India not to compromise.

In an emergency, the crew help facilitate rescue operations. It is on these occasions that passengers realise the value of cabin crew.

Recently, an US aircraft had to make an emergency landing on the river Hudson in New York, it was a team of air hostesses, who rescued all passengers. The most remarkable aspect of rescue operation was that the harassed passengers were made to stand on wings of the aircraft and they were lowered from the aircraft to waiting boats without any casualty.

Analysts say whatever may be financial health of the national carrier, it should never ever compromise with safety norms. The full compliment of air hostesses must be on board at all times. Analysts say that certain private airlines have been violating safety rules. They should be pulled up for irregularities instead of merely warning them. There is more disappointment than happiness in Air India re-starting
Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto flight without a stop-over in London fromFebruary 20.

London was a pivotal entry and exit point and it brought in a huge revenue. Analysts feel that the move is ‘commercial suicide’ by the national airline. The smaller aircraft will yield smaller revenue and London-based non-resident Indians will be considerably inconvenienced.

"The airline will lose revenue not only on passenger-load, but will lose heavily on cargo,” say experts. Amritsar and Canada -based Groups are reported to have decided to make a petition to the new Civil Aviation Minister to re-introduce the original route
Amritsar-Delhi-London-Toronto on a large
aircraft.

The discontinuation of the original route in October 2010 was a 'political decision' . It was done to provide wider scope to private operators.

New Delhi, January 29
Reeling under the impact of rising input costs, adverse foreign exchange movement and higher royalty payout, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) today reported 17.80 per cent decline in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2010, to Rs 565.17 crore from Rs 687.53 crore in the same period a year ago.

“Increase in commodity costs during the quarter also impacted the margins,” MSI said after its Board of Directors approved the financial results.

Net sales during the third quarter rose 26.49 per cent to Rs 9,276.73 crore from Rs 7,333.77 crore.

“The third quarter this year compared to the same period last year was marked by pressure on margins primarily due to adverse foreign exchange movement and higher royalty payout,” the company said. Total sales grew 28.16 per cent to 3,30,687 units from 2,58,026 in the year-ago period.

Domestic sales grew 36.83 per cent to 2,99,527 units from 2,18,910 units in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The growth was led by Alto, Wagon R and Swift. It posted the highest-ever sales in the domestic market with 1,07,555 units in October 2010. In November 2010, domestic sales touched 102,503 crossing the 1 lakh milestone for the second time in the quarter.

Volumes in the domestic A2 segment grew 35.3 per cent, while in the A3 segment, sales volume grew 26.4 per cent, compared to sales in October-December 2009. Sales in the C segment, comprising Omni and Eeco, grew a robust 78.5 per cent. Exports during the quarter were down 20.34 per cent to 31,160 units from 39,116 units from the same period last fiscal.

Q My father on retirement get commuted pension amount. Is that amount taxable?

2. My father now gets a monthly pension of Rs 15,000. Is the annual pension amount of Rs 1,80,000 completely taxable.

3. I lived in a rented house & my employer does not give me any HRA. Can I take any relief in tax for the amount which I am paying as house rent. If yes, then under what section & how much? — Nitin Jain

A 1. The commuted amount of pension received by your father is not taxable.

2. Though the commuted amount is tax-free, the amount of monthly pension is fully taxable without any directly available deductions. However, your father could take a tax deduction under Section 80C and/or Section 80CCF by making investments specified in this regard.

3. An assessee, including an employee not getting HRA, is entitled in respect of any furnished or unfurnished accommodation occupied by him for the purposes of his own residence, a deduction of rent paid by him in excess of 10% of his total income to the extent to which such excess does not exceed i) 25% of the total income and ii) Rs 2,000 per month, whichever is lower (u/s 80GG)

As in the case of Sec 80G, ‘total income’ is reduced by the amount deductible under any other provision of Chapter VI-A. The deduction is not available if any accommodation is i) owned by the assessee or his spouse or minor child or the HUF of which he is a member at the place where he normally resides or has his office, employment, business or profession or ii) owned by him at any other place and occupied by him (income claimed to be nil). The assessee is required to file a declaration in Form-10BA.